Alleged Terrorist Naseer Extradited to U.S., Prosecutors Say

Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Abid Naseer, a Pakistani man wanted
by U.S. prosecutors on charges related to an alleged plot to
bomb the New York City subway system, was extradited from the
U.K. to New York.

Naseer, 26, who was arrested by U.K. counter-terrorism
officers following the U.S. extradition request, will appear
Jan. 7 in federal court in Brooklyn, U.S. prosecutors said today
in a statement. A U.K. judge ruled a year ago that Naseer could
be extradited and he lost an appeal last month.

U.S. prosecutors allege that Naseer was linked to a plot to
attack New York’s subway system that was uncovered in September
2009. The plot involving Colorado resident Najibullah Zazi was
directed by senior al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan, the U.S.
Justice Department said.

Naseer is accused of helping al-Qaeda in a multinational
conspiracy to attack multiple targets, U.S. prosecutors said.
Last January, three defendants also alleged to be part of the
conspiracy were convicted in a Norwegian court of plotting an
attack in Denmark, U.S. prosecutors said.

“The defendant is one of a long line of terrorist suspects
extradited to these shores and this courthouse to face justice
for their efforts to wreak havoc here and overseas,” Brooklyn
U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement. “As alleged,
this defendant was instrumental in one tentacle of an
international plot that reached to New York, Norway and the
United Kingdom.”

Terrorism Suspects

Evidence presented during Naseer’s extradition hearing and
in U.S. trials of terrorism suspects shows that al-Qaeda leaders
were communicating with the subway bomb plotters through a
Pakistan-based facilitator who was also communicating with
Naseer, according to prosecutors.

Naseer is one of 10 Pakistani nationals arrested earlier by
British police in Manchester and Liverpool in 2009 as part of a
separate counter-terrorism operation. While U.K. security
officials said at the time the men were about to mount an
attack, they weren’t charged.

In May 2010, two months before his arrest on the U.S.
extradition request, Naseer won the right to stay in Britain
after an immigration court ruled that he faced torture or death
if deported to Pakistan.